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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez won't be back for Thursday's inauguration. He's too sick after undergoing surgery for cancer in Cuba. If, in the end, he doesn't return, Chavez has said his successor should be Nicolas Maduro, who went from bus driver to union leader to vice president.

The Investment bank Morgan Stanley has announced plans to shed 1,600 jobs — about half of those cuts will be made in the U.S. The move is a seen as aimed at cutting costs and boosting equity returns for the banks investors.

On Monday, Morning Edition explored crime rates in Chicago and how the murder rate went up in 2012. That was against national trends and even against Chicago's long-range decline in crime. We discussed police focus on "hot spots," and the dissolution of gangs. But listeners asked: What about gun bans?

President Obama will nominate his Chief of Staff Jack Lew to be the next Treasury Secretary. Lew is a budget expert who could hit the ground running as the treasury tries to cope with a looming debt ceiling, automatic spending cuts and the ongoing push for long-term deficit reduction.

Taiwan technology giant Foxconn said it is under investigation by Chinese authorities. It is also conducting its own probe into allegations that some of its managers had solicited bribes from suppliers.

House budget chief and former vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan unveils the House GOP budget plan Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, Senate Democrats will do the same. For more on the GOP plan, Renee Montagne speaks with NPR's Tamara Keith.

The Mass before the conclave, the homily, the procession of cardinals into the Sistine Chapel, and the command "extra omnes" ("everyone out" — except the Cardinals). Steve Inskeep speaks with NPR's Sylvia Poggioli about the papal conclave.

As the conclave to select a new pope gets under way at the Vatican, what do American Catholics want from the next pontiff? Renee Montagne speaks with Greg Smith of the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life about their most recent survey.

Easter's coming up — a special time of year for fast-food ads pitching their fish offerings. Arby's, Burger King and regional chains like Carl's Jr. are trying to net hungry Catholic customers who've given up meat for Lent.

Mr. Stubbs (his tail was bitten off years ago) was taken in by the Phoenix Herpetological Society. There, The Arizona Republic reports, an orthopedic care specialist realized a silicone tail could be designed for him. Now, Mr. Stubbs sports a $6,000 prosthetic.

Mexico's new president, Enrique Peña Nieto, has been in office for three months, and despite his claims that he's fighting drug violence with a new strategy, there are no signs the situation is any better. The president prefers to focus on Mexico's economic potential and has been touring the country, giving pep talks wherever he goes.

The task of choosing the next pope falls to 115 red-robed cardinals, known by the faithful as the "princes" of the Catholic Church. Their average age is 72 — and they are all men. We examine how they came to have this massive responsibility, and how some Catholics resent their exclusive monopoly over electing pontiffs.

For only the second time ever, the Securities and Exchange Commission is charging a state with fraud, for allegedly misleading investors about the health of its pension funds. The SEC says the state of Illinois did not properly inform investors that its pension funds were significantly underfunded when selling bonds from 2005 to 2009. This is the latest fiscal black eye for a state with a pension shortfall approaching a whopping $100 billion. The state has agreed to settle the charges.

Journalist Susan Spencer-Wendel was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 2011. In her new memoir, Until I Say Good-Bye, she describes a year spent living with the disease but devoted to joy: traveling, visiting friends and family, and accepting her fate with grace.

Herbert Gronemeyer, the best-selling German recording artist of all time, has compiled English versions of his greatest hits for his first U.S. release, I Walk.

For their popular podcast, two longtime friends sit down at a kitchen table and share little-known anecdotes and historical facts about New York. Its bare-bones production hasn't hurt its popularity — it's been downloaded 5 million times in the past five years.

In 2006, right-handed pitcher Juan Sandoval was accidentally blinded in his right eye when he was shot as an innocent bystander. Now Sandoval is back pitching, trying out for the Tampa Bay Rays. Host Scott Simon talks with him.

Steve Inskeep speaks with James Dobbins, a former U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo, about U.S. military assistance to opposition movements in other countries. So far, the Obama administration is only providing Syrian rebels with medical and food supplies. Dobbins is the director of the RAND International Security and Defense Policy Center.

For Navy Lt. Mark Radlinski, coming home from Iraq was both the best and worst day. But his brother had no mixed emotions — it was all positive. When Felicia Banks deployed with the Army, her children were not as aware of what was going on. They knew they were thrilled to have her back, though.

Friday, two Civil War sailors were laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Host Scott Simon talks with Anna Holloway, curator of the USS Monitor Center in Newport, Va., about the two sailors whose bodies were discovered in the turret of a wrecked ship in 2002.

A Seattle widow's one-stop estate planning advice blog was inspired by her own paperwork frustrations after her husband's death. Chanel Reynolds offers a checklist of documents to prepare, a will template and a list of details to write down, like passwords to online accounts.

Host Scott Simon talks with people who have spent months trying to find work about how they are making ends meet.

Late President Hugo Chavez helped out ideological peers in Latin America, as well as key U.S. allies in the Caribbean. But with Venezuela's own financial challenges and an upcoming presidential election, many of those countries are worried their vital oil lifeline is about to be shut off.

Washington Post food editor Joe Yonan took a bit of a professional risk this week by publicly declaring his vegetarianism. He's not alone: Many Americans say they've cut back on meat in recent years, and like Yonan, they cite health as a primary concern.

With Chavez gone, his handpicked successor is in the spotlight. Nicolas Maduro has adopted Chavez's style and anti-imperialist rhetoric. That should help boost his appeal as he faces opposition leader Henrique Capriles in a special election April 14.